They skirted the edge of the woods along the city\u2019s northern border, where the buildings thinned out and began to give way to woods and rocky rises and hillocks.\u00a0 Lindsay\u2019s heart thudded hard against her ribs as they ran as fast as they dared, staying low and trying to remain well beneath the notice of anyone or anything\u00a0 flying above them.\u00a0 The bombers seemed to just keep coming out of nowhere, chased by the meager fighter forces that they\u2019d been able to scramble.<\/p>\n
\u201cHellfire,\u201d Kara cursed, her eyes following a bomber as the dying craft spun off toward the shallows offshore.\u00a0 \u201cWe played at pacifism for too long.\u00a0 We\u2019re not prepared for this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUncle Adam and the other Marshals have been trying,\u201d Lindsay said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not their fault the Council\u2019s tied their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t try to argue for it very loudly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot until lately anyway.\u201d\u00a0 Lindsay smiled grimly.\u00a0 \u201cThey didn\u2019t have anything to back them up.\u00a0 Spontaneous visions of death and destruction in front of the entire Council\u2026that tends to help their case.\u201d\u00a0 Her gaze ranged down the treeline, toward the edge of the vineyard.\u00a0 \u201cWe can\u2019t keep to the trees.\u00a0 We have to leave them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kara nodded.\u00a0 \u201cCity\u2019s like a bloody ghost town.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one\u2019s stupid.\u00a0 They\u2019re all under cover.\u201d\u00a0 Except us, and Brendan wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 He must have been desperate to find the Inspector.<\/i>\u00a0 She should have been furious with her uncle for sending him, whether Winston was important to their futures or not.\u00a0 It was stupidly dangerous to leave cover to find anyone.<\/p>\n
And what the hell am I doing?<\/i>\u00a0 She suppressed the urge to sigh at herself.\u00a0 Well, I guess my husband and have the same streak of stupidity in us that makes us do things that are ridiculously dangerous.<\/i><\/p>\n
Kara squeezed her shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cCome on.\u00a0 We can make a run for it now and I think we\u2019ll hit the gap in the waves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindsay took a deep breath and nodded.\u00a0 \u201cOn your count.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo, one, go<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
They sprinted for the vineyard and the still-smoldering wreckage beyond it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They skirted the edge of the woods along the city\u2019s northern border, where the buildings thinned out and began to give way to woods and rocky rises and hillocks.\u00a0 Lindsay\u2019s heart thudded hard against her ribs as they ran as … Continue reading